Rinca island - pictures, maps and information

Astounding nature of Gili Laba Island

Rincah island measures 198 square kilometer. It is a part of the Komodo National Park. There is one village on the island, Rincah village, which has a population of 1074 souls. Being a lesser known island (and less visited) than Komodo it is a most ideal place to watch the Komodo Dragon in its natural habitat, with less people to disturb them. It is easy to arrange a day trip from Labuan Bajo (Flores) by small boat. Make sure to check in at the Park Head Quarters.

Like Komodo, the island is composed of a silica-rich rock called rhyolite porphyry. The rhyolite contains large, perfect doubly terminated quartz crystals (lacking the prism faces), some of which are up to a centimeter long. The rhyolite is also rich in magnetite, which weathers out of the rock to form magnetite-rich sand on some of the beaches. In places, silica-rich groundwater has replaced the
bedrock with chert. On Rinca, one can see fragments of worked chert lying around near the outcrops.

Note : Visit The Island Called Gili Laba is worth it

HOW TO GET THERE

Rinca is accessible from sea only. Fly to Labuan Bajo on Flores, from where it is about 3 to 4 hours by boat. The island can also be reached by ferry or charter boat from Sape, Sumbawa.

Alternatively, do a four day cruise on an Indonesian yacht, departing from Lombok.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

Best time to visit Rinca is between March and June, and between October and December

In June 2008, five scuba divers (three British, one French and one Swedish) were found on the Southern coast of Rincah after having been missing for 2 days. The group had drifted 20 miles (32 km) from where their dive boat abandoned them. They survived on shellfish and oysters.

Map of Rinca island
(click to enlarge)


Lavalon website online since 1998 Promoting NTT	Tourist information on Nusa Tenggara Timur, East of Bali from Flores to West Timor